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No matter where you are located in the world the chances are you will have at least heard of the game of ‘Poker’ and maybe even played a hand or two, but where and who first came up with the concept and how did it get from being outlawed to being played in temples for gamers, then in to the home via the internet?

There are many theories of how Poker came to be one of which is in China sometime in 900AD. Recordings show how in 969AD, the Chinese Emperor, Mu Tsung introduced "Domino Cards" to his wife. Another possible starting place for Poker is Egypt where fragments of cards have been found dating back to the 12th and 13th century.

As Poker history evolved, the card game spread into Europe and in the 15th century we saw the French playing ‘Poque’, the first game to use the ‘suits’ of Clubs, Hearts, Spades and Diamonds we are all familiar with today. Previous suits included Cups, Coins, Batons and Swords from Spain and Italy, Flowers, Shields, Acorns and Bells from Switzerland while Germany used Leaves, Hearts and adopted Acorns and Bells from the Swiss to make up their deck. In the 16th century the Persian game of ‘As Nas’ appears which included hand ranking and individual rounds of betting making it one of the earliest card games that most resembles Poker today.